Crafts & Creations Archives

Wooden Toys

March 30, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

Honestly, there are times I wonder, just a little bit, if our kids are actually pioneer children. They truly enjoy the simplest of wooden toys, games and activities. But maybe that’s just a result of the simple life we live, that they can find such enjoyment in these simple things. Or maybe, the fact that they love such simple things, makes our life simple. Much like that age old question, of which came first: the chicken or the egg? Either way, we’re grateful.

But back to the wooden toys. We were in one of our very favorite stores. Not the ‘mercantile’ in town (I would LOVE it if there was one!), but Michael’s Arts & Crafts, when we spotted these little wooden toy kits…..for a $1 each! Now, as parents, we don’t get our kids something every time we go into a store. Or even 2% of the times we go into a store. We just find it unnecessary. (Because we’re simple people, I guess. They don’t even ask or expect anything, either. But when I saw these toy kits, I knew they would truly LOVE putting them together, and painting them, for hours. I also knew they would be happy with their work, and play with them after. So, sometimes, it’s nice just to surprise them. When I told that them they could go ahead and all pick one out, they were very excited, and had almost as fun picking 0ne out, as they did building and painting it. Even our 11 year old can still enjoy such simple pass times, and she never passes up an opportunity to do a project with the little ones, anyway. They just love to do stuff, together.

So….not much else to say. But we think they came out great, and I did have fun taking photos to share! LOTS!

wood toys

And boy are we down to the wire!! Tomorrow is the last day to get your name in that bowl again, and Wednesday we announce the winner of OUR FIRST GIVEAWAY!! WHO’S name will we pull out of the bowl? WHO will have a special package of home-made gifts, made by US, delivered to their home?? We can hardly take the anticipation! Can you??

The kiddos thank you for coming to see their painted wooden toys.

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How to Build a Wood Stove Bench – Part I

March 28, 2009 By Michael 5 Comments

Hi Everybody. I’m Michael, a.k.a. Mr. House Of Joyful Noise.
I’m excited to introduce my first project on the blog! I’m going to teach you how to build a wood stove bench.

I’ll be working this project in parts, and blogging as I go. I’ll do my best to explain what I’ve done, along with what photos we took, but if you find you still have questions, you can let me know in the comments to this post, and I will try to answer as best I can. So check the comments for replies if you leave me a question.

The other day, my bride mentioned that she was tired of our little stool in front of the wood stove. She wants something larger, homier, and I had to agree.

So I asked her what she would like to have, and she described the type of bench she would like. At this point, I sketched out something, as I always do when I start a project, just to have an idea of what direction I’m going in.

I came up with a height that would be best to sit and load the stove with wood, poke the fire, or clean the stove out, etc. My bride wanted it wide enough for 2 people to sit together. ♥♥ I also wanted a comfortable width so the bench would be stable on the floor. I felt like I had a good enough plan on paper to start the project.

I set out to find some scrap stock around the house. I ended up using two 6 foot pieces of 2″x10″ ‘s, left over from our sun room rafters.

I wanted the bench top 14 inches wide, and 36 inches long. So I ripped one of the 2×10’s to 7 inches in width.

Once I had that ripped to size, it was time to cut it to 36 inches in length. This left me with 2 finished pieces 7″x36″.

Then it was time to start the legs. I knew I needed 4 pieces 8 inches wide, by 15 inches tall. (Two pieces 8″x15″ per leg.) So it was back to the table saw to rip my second 2×10 to 8 inches in width.

With that ripped to 8 inches wide, I then cut 4 pieces 15 inches long. These would be the legs. I then sketched the pattern onto one of the legs. I measured from the side in to 2.5 inches, and down from the top 5 inches, and marked it with a pencil. Then from the bottom of that piece, on the same side, I measured up 5 inches, and marked that. Then I drew the angle connecting those 2 points.

How to Build a Wood Bench

I cut on that pattern, and then repeated this 3 more times with the 3 remaining pieces. This gave me 4 identical pieces to build 2 legs for the bench.

I also wanted an arch cut out of the bottom of the leg. So I measured 2 inches up the side, and marked it. Then I measured 3 inches along the bottom, and marked it. I took a one gallon paint can, set it on the piece, so that the can touched on both of those marks, and traced the curve. I cut them out with a jigsaw. (Don’t pay attention to the larger pencil arc. I was just figuring out how high I wanted it.)

How to Build a Wood Bench

Here is a finished half leg.

Putting 2 of these cut pieces together, this gives you an idea of the look of a finished leg.

Now, to secure these 2 pieces together, I cut a support piece for the inside of each leg. They are 9¼ wide by 12 inches high. To dress these pieces up a little, I cut 2 45 degree angles off the bottom, and did 45 degree bevel all the way around, except for the top.

That piece will sit centered on the width and flush to the top of the legs.

In Part II of this project, we will finish the cutting, and get ready for assembly of this bench. Later on, in Part III, we will prime, paint and finish the bench to a worn look, and show you how it looks in front of the wood stove.

Something to think about: In keeping with the general design of this bench, the measurements could be changed to build a bench for many different uses. For example, you could build a bench for your deck, your garden, a wall bench for in your home, or a bench for your kids to sit on in their playroom.

The projects I intend to blog about are anything I happen to be doing anyway, for our own home or needs. So as they come up in life, I will try to share in this manner here on our blog. I think you will find that my projects are often rough and simple. Since I am not a carpenter by trade, I have limited tools to work with. But I make do ok. My hope is that these projects will offer a jumping point for projects you may like to do, or inspire the men in your family in some way.

Please feel free to leave any suggestions or feedback about these project posts for me as well. I am new at blogging and explaining step by step. I just DO IT. So if there is anything I can do to clarify things for you, please let me know and I will do my best. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed Part I of my first blogged project!!
Click Here >>>> for Part II

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Fly Him to the Moon – Solar System Mobile

March 15, 2009 By Laura 3 Comments

…..but PLEASE bring him back. We would miss him terribly!

Our boy, {J} is frequently on creative missions. In fact, more days than we could ever count, he has jumped out of bed in the morning and gone straight to the school room, to gather all of the supplies he needs. He’s on a mission to build just “what I had an idea about when I was laying in bed last night before I went to sleep!”

On this day recently, it was a mobile of the solar system.

All of the planets are not there, because there wasn’t room, he said. But he can tell you what we do have here….

He also made Venus….but he threw it out because he didn’t like how it came out. He has standards. lol

He works so diligently, building and creating all kinds of things, all of the time. He’s a very quiet worker, with a lot of stamina. It may take hours to complete whatever it is he is making. Or days. But he doesn’t mind. He works joyfully. He’s in it for the long haul, until the project is done, and he can take a step back, and look at it with a grand sigh of approval. If he has to stop mid-project, for some reason out of his control….like having to go somewhere, do some schooling, or something else….there is little else he can think of, but getting back to that project! If we’re out somewhere, and he ‘gets an idea’, …oohhhhhh boy! The pressure is on (us!) until we get him home! He needs to get RIGHT to it. It’s important!

We just love his creative imagination. His deep desires and ability to bring ideas to some form of tangible fruition.

We don’t know what it means for him in the big picture. Where he is going in life, or to do what. But it’s got to be a good thing!

We’re curious, but we don’t need to know now, really. Like all of our children…..it’s a fascinating privilege to watch him ‘get there’.

There is really nothing else we’d rather do, in the whole-wide-universe.

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Making Friendship Bracelets – Kids Craft

February 19, 2009 By Laura 5 Comments

(This post contains an affiliate links, for which we may be compensated for.)

To add to {A’s} ka-trillion other hobbies, {A} has taught herself the art of bracelet making, using the Klutz Friendship Bracelets Craft Kit (affiliate link) She just LOVES to make things, and will put hours on end into creating this or that. Or more of those things. : ) She is also passionate, about GIVING the things she makes, to others. Which is great for 2 reasons: 1) it’s a Christ-like thing to do, and 2) For all she makes, we’d be pushed out of the crevices of our own home, if she kept it all. : )

So she put in over-time in the weeks leading to Christmas, and made every one of us a bracelet in the colors that mean the most to us, as well as one for most all of her cousins. I hired her to make one, to give to my God-Daughter for Christmas. Plus, she made another for one uncle, who requested one for himself.

Each bracelet is a bit tedious and time-consuming process. But she doesn’t seem to mind it, as she sits and chats, or enjoys the peace and coziness of the fireside.
The craft kit and book gives simple directions to learn how to make these bracelets, step-by-step, with lots of photos, and a starter set of string colors to work with.

This is what the Klutz Friendship Bracelets Craft Kit looks like, and you can find it HERE.

She has made SO many, and has really had fun doing so . . . .

But most all of these are given away by now. The third one in from the left, is mine. It’s brown, with my kids birth colors, which are also the branding colors of my business. I LOVE it. She gave it to me on Christmas morning, as ONE of many things in a beautifully wrapped box. Some of the items in that box with my bracelet, were drawings from all of my children, made with love. (SO sweet. They make me 2 0r 3 a day, but you know, these were Christmassy-special), green-apple and water-melon lollipops (I have a little sucker-addiction as of late), and get this…a $50 gift card to Macy’s. WHAT?? From my 11 year old kid?? I was dumb-founded. Turns out, she rightfully earned it, working side by side with her Dad at a local firm. Impressed with the work she was doing for their company, along with her Daddy-Boy, they gave it to her. And she gave it to MOI (that’s ME, in French. You knew that, right?) , for Christmas.

Can I tell you how HAPPY I was to get that card? VERY!! I knew JUST what I was getting with that card. Something I just can’t get myself to spend money on (especially for myself), but needed pretty badly. Want to know what I bought? Because I WILL tell you. I am joyful enough in this grateful heart of mine, to tell you just what I spent that $50 on. I brought my daughter with me, to share in the happy shopping day, as I threw those items happily on the counter for the cashier to ring up. You want to know, don’t you. Are you sure?? Ok. I’ll tell you.

Bras.

Yes, it’s true!! These things can put a BIG SMILE on your face, when you really need them. As the lady handed me that bag, and thanked me for shopping at Macy’s, I turned to my daughter next to me, and jumped up and down hugging and thanking her for my new under-things. I might have even squealed, in my moment of excitement. She wrinkled her nose, and shushed me, as she often does in her cute-little way, when she is ‘slightly embarrassed‘. (<That’s a big expression with my kids.) But I knew it made her happy, to make me so happy. Though she could NOT understand WHY I would choose THAT to use my $50 on. But, she was happy for me.

OH!!! I’m sorry. We were talking about her bracelets, and not my under-things.Right. (But they are so nice!) So sorry.

So this is the latest new technique she has learned:

Cool huh?? It’s called ‘Broken Ladder’.

She wants to make lots more, and maybe have enough done to sell a few. She has more business-ventures going in that head of hers. I love her ambition though. She is good with her money too. She saves some, spends some, and often gives away some, in one way or another. Often times, to buy supplies to make things, to give away.

I always wonder, just what she will choose to do with her life, when she is all grown up. You know, on days when I can ‘go there’ and think about that. But for now, we mostly enjoy watching her ‘get there’. Because we can tell already, it’s going to be good, when it comes. And we’ll spend that time, in the future, looking back to these days, when she was on her way.

She’s a colorful one, for sure.

This craft kit really is a fun little gift, for girls or boys! They’ll spend hours making bracelets for their friends and family.
More embroidery thread, in a wide variety of colors, can be found at any quality craft store.

Thanks for dropping by, for another peek at what we’ve been up to.

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Lavender Sachets

February 19, 2009 By Laura Leave a Comment

We believe this is the last craft to reveal. Lavender sachets. It was actually one of the first we made. Probably one of the least creative, which may be why I saved it for last. lol.

If you all recall this header:

And husband/Daddy, learning how to use the machine and sew, all in about 2 minutes, (and then hogging the machine, because he was having so much fun)……….

(One-handed showoff)

…..while the ‘other kids’ were working at the other end of the table…….

He did let {A} get in there for a LITTLE bit….

….until he kicked her back out, because he wanted another turn, and couldn’t take it anymore.

It was definitely a gift-making family affair!

how-to-make-lavender-sachets
NOTICE how the sachets are hung out to air out!! It’s a comical little story, really……

We had bought real dried lavender. That is what the 4 kids in the photo up there are doing….cleaning the buds off the sticks. WHICH, mind you, smelled NOTHING like lavender, flowers, or ANYTHING NICE. It smelled like…well, dried weeds.

SO, we had lavender scent oil drops that we had bought, and had planned on adding a drop or 3 anyway. Just give it a little boost in smell. But from the smell of that bowl of dried buds….it needed LOTS of help. And our sweet little helper was there, ready, willing and waiting, to help….A LOT……..

That is, until we ventured to take that saran wrap off and spoon some in our sewn sachet bags anyway. HOLY…..the SCENT SURELY SHOWED UP!! Gees…it was through the whole house, and stuck in our noses for DAYS. We made all of the sachets, but man….they were SO POTENT!! Really…just…..a little MUCH.

So I hung them out one day….ALL DAY. Not sure if that helped, much. When it came time to package them with other crafts, for Christmas gifts, we triple zip-locked them.

And-you-could-still-smell-them. Grandma was so kind about how nice hers smelled, with her little telling-giggle.

If it is true, that a lavender scent helps you sleep well, these babies will knock you out for a lifetime!! They did smell like SOMETHING NICE in the end. Just a little more than necessary. : ) Update-2016: These days, I know to use 100% real natural lavender essential oil, as opposed to the concoctions they sell in the store. (We use doTERRA, for all of our essential oil needs.)

It’s been fun, showing you all of our craft-gift ideas this year! Hope you’ve been enjoying it, as well.

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There is really nothing else we’d rather do, in the whole-wide-universe.

(This post contains an affiliate links, for which we may be compensated for.)

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